This invention relates to a light, portable device for drying garments, such as wool or cotton sweaters, gloves, scarfs, and other delicate apparel.
The current state of the art in drying individual garments, such as sweaters, is remarkably limited. One can place such garments in a dryer on a stationary shelf or in a tumbling mode to dry the garment. Obviously dryers are not portable, and frequently the temperature control mechanism is such that the temperature in the dryer cannot be maintained at a low enough temperature to prevent shrinking.
Other alternatives to drying such garments are equally unsatisfactory. Placing a sweater on a hanger and letting it drip dry requires a substantial amount of time and can result in the undesired distortion of the garment's original shape. Placing a wet garment on a towel on a flat surface is a very slow process. Commercial devices that are currently marketed also are too slow. For example, there are available so-called sweater dryers that include a screen stretched on a frame so that a garment placed on the screen has both its front and back exposed to the air for drying. One must depend, however, on ambient air current and simple evaporation to accomplish the drying.